In commercial applications, one often wishes to measure a variety of application characteristics or parameters, ambient conditions, etc. In many cases, one must purchase a separate measurement system to measure each desired parameter. or example, one may wish to measure the temperature as well as the humidity, voltage, electrical or magnetic field, torque, or other type process parameters. The purchase of separate measurement systems to measure each of the above process characteristics make such measurements costly.
Additionally, one may wish to measure a particular parameter or to measure that parameter within a specific parameter range or under specific parameter conditions. Further, it is often desirable to communicate the measured information within a certain computer or communications protocol. Prior art systems communicated in various ways. In one way, a user purchases a custom measurement system that is specifically designed solely for that particular range of process characteristics the user has d sired. Another system includes purchasing a measurement system that is operable not only for your particular process characteristic range, but also is operable over a broad range of process characteristics. Yet another prior art system requires the purchase of measurement system that particularly communicates within the desired communication protocol. Therefore a user must either purchase a highly custom measurement system to measure and communicate the information, thereby resulting in substantially high costs or must purchase a measurement system that is operable over a needlessly broad range of process characteristics. In this scenario one sacrifices either performance (the resolution and/or accuracy of the measuring of the particular parameter) or cost in obtaining high resolution performance over a range of measurement broader than needed. In either case the user is in the predicament either spending a substantial amount of money to purchase a custom measurement system uniquely tailored to their needs, or alternatively paying a substantial amount of money to purchase a measurement system that provides functions that they do not desire and fails to provide the accuracy for the particular function they do need. Therefore, users are faced with a quandary of either paying great cost to meet their needs, or sacrificing the accuracy in measurements for their desired parameters.
Another problem in measurement systems is the sensor being utilized is either not calibrated or, if calibrated, its calibration is a function of a nominal sensor of its kind. Therefore, measurement systems do not have sensors that are uniquely calibrated for that particular sensor and/or for the sensor's use, thereby negatively impacting measurement accuracy.
Additional inaccuracies also occur due to measurement systems which have conversion capabilities remote from the sensor itself. In prior art systems, a measurement is taken by the sensor, which provides an electrical signal which is indicative of the measurement being taken. That signal is subsequently transferred along some type of communication wiring harness or cable to a remote location where that signal is then converted into its respective measurement value. The transfer along the cable or wire often creates inaccuracies due to loses which occur along the line. Therefore, the electronic signal value at the location of the sensor is often not the same electronic signal value at the remote conversion circuitry site. It further creates measurement inaccuracies.
Yet another problem facing users of measurement systems is that the software utilized within conversion circuitry is generic and does not meet the unique needs of the user. Prior art solutions to this problem include the user creating their own custom software to provide their desired features, which increases the cost to the user as well as takes time. Further, adding additional software oftentimes requires making modifications to the conversion circuitry by either adding additional memory or altering the system architecture, etc. These tasks further increase the cost of utilizing the measurement system.